Joe Rogan was impressed by Islam Makhachev’s performance at UFC 294.
Lightweight champion Makhachev (25-1 MMA, 14-1 UFC) left no doubt in his title-fight rematch with Alexander Volkanovski (26-3 MMA, 13-2 UFC) in Saturday’s main event at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.
Makhachev knocked out Volkanovski with a first-round head kick that left Rogan in awe.
“Oh my God! He head kicked him,” Rogan said on his “JRE Fight Companion.” “Wow! What a shocker. Who would have saw that coming? It was amazing. Shin to the dome, opened up a cut – it was perfect. Islam, man. He showed a bunch of new sh*t. That front kick, and he was throwing that kick to the body, and then he threw the same kick to the head.”
Makhachev’s control time won him his first fight with Volkanovski at UFC 284, but he didn’t need to rely on his grappling this time. Although their title-fight rematch only last three minutes, Rogan saw many strides in Makhachev’s striking.
“I’m just so impressed that he won that way,” Rogan said. “He showed so much improvement. He really made adjustments because they must have trained for Volkanovski again,even though he wasn’t fighting Volkanovski (originally).
“I’m sure they went over all the different things that Volkanovski did, and what are the counters to those things, and he shut a lot of it down. He shut down that switch kick to the outside leg, throwing that front kick up the middle, set up the head kick.”
Prior to beating Volkanovski twice, Makhachev showed off his striking against Charles Oliveira at UFC 280, when he knocked him down then submitted him in Round 2 to claim the vacant belt.
“He knocked (down) Oliveira in the last fight – remember, his striking was his weakest point,” Rogan said. “Now it’s f*cking as dangerous as anybody in the division. You knock out Volkanovski? Sh*t.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 294.